January 5, 1975: The Tragedy of Don Wilson

January 5, 1975: Houston Astros pitcher Don Wilson dies at the Southwest Houston home he shared with his wife, daughter and son. He was found in the passenger seat of his brown Ford Thunderbird inside the garage with the engine running. The garage was attached to the house, which caused his son, Alex, to die also, and his daughter Denise and wife Bernice to be hospitalized.

Donald Edward Wilson was born on February 12, 1945 in Monroe, Louisiana, but grew up outside Los Angeles in Compton, California, where he graduated from Centennial High School. So did fellow baseball stars Roy White, Wayne Simpson, Reggie Smith and Lenny Randle; football star Paul Lowe; and music figures Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar.

Who else was straight outta Compton? Tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams lived there, but moved to West Palm Beach, Florida before they reached high school. Compton High School produced Baseball Hall-of-Famer Duke Snider, football star Marv Fleming, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, and Violet Palmer, the NBA's 1st female referee; 1936 Olympic high jump Gold Medalist Cornelius Johnson; actors James Coburn and Polly Bergen; TV cartoon producer William Hanna; singer Keb' Mo', rappers The Game and Roddy Rich, and, the source of the phrase "Straight Outta Compton," Dr. Dre's fellow N.W.A. members Eazy-E and DJ Yella. But, also, Iva Toguri, the Japanese-American woman maniuplated into becoming propaganda broadcaster "Tokyo Rose."

Wilson, a righthanded pitcher, made his major league debut at the end of the 1966 season. On June 18, 1967, he pitched a no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves at the Astrodome. It was the 1st no-hitter ever pitched indoors, and the 1st ever pitched on artificial turf. He struck out 15 batters, the last of them being Hank Aaron.

On July 14, 1968, he struck out 18 batters at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, for a 6-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds. It remains an Astros franchise record. On May 1, 1969, again at Crosley Field, Wilson pitched his 2nd no-hitter, beating the Reds, 4-0. He went 16-12 that season. The Astros got into their 1st Pennant race, but tailed off in September, out of contention for the National League Western Division title.

In 1971, he made his only All-Star Game, going 16-10 with a 2.45 ERA. He went 15-10 the next season. He was a little under .500 in 1973 and '74. On September 28, 1974, he pitched a 2-hit shutout against the Atlanta Braves. Nobody had any idea at the time, but it was his last game.

On February 5, 1975, Dr. Joseph Jachimczyk, the Harris County Medical Examiner, ruled the deaths of Don and Alex Wilson accidental. His autopsy report showed that Don had a blood alcohol content of 0.167 percent -- keeping in mind that, at the time, the legal limit for driving was 0.1 percent. The leading theory is that Wilson drove into his garage, activated the automatic door closer, and then passed out. He didn't have any known reason to kill himself. He was just 29, and had a career record of 104-92 despite pitching for mostly weak teams.

Wilson's uniform Number 40 was retired by the Astros on April 13, 1975. This was the 1st season of their infamous "Rainbow Brite" Jerseys, and a black circular patch with his number 40 in white was worn on the left sleeve of their jerseys.

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January 5, 1975 was a Sunday. Football star Warrick Dunn and actor Bradley Cooper were born.

Baseball was out of season. The NFL was between its Conference Championship Games and Super Bowl IX, which the Pittsburgh Steelers would win over the Minnesota Vikings. There were 5 games in the NBA:

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Phoenix Suns, 97-86 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bulls, 96-95 at the Milwaukee Exposition and Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA (now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena).

* The Houston Rockets beat the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, 115-106 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City. Mike Newlin led all scorers on the day with 37 points.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Washington Bullets, 112-109 in overtime at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Mike Riordan scored 34 in defeat.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the New Orleans Jazz, 111-102 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

There were 5 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets beat the Virginia Squires, 100-95 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Memphis Sounds, 108-99 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis.

* The Spirits of St. Louis beat the Kentucky Colonels, 109-106 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Denver Nuggets beat their arch-rivals at the time, the Utah Stars, 110-93 at the Denver Auditorium Arena.

* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 134-116 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

There were 6 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Atlanta Flames beat the Washington Capitals, 3-0 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 1-0 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* In another "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 6-4 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the California Golden Seals beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

And there were 5 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Toronto Toros beat the Cleveland Crusaders, 4-3 at The Coliseum in Richfield.

* The Michigan Stags beat the Vancouver Blazers, 3-1 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. Just 13 days later, the Stags folded, and became the Baltimore Blades, who folded again at the end of the season.

* The Phoenix Roadrunners beat the Indianapolis Racers, 2-1 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the New England Whalers, 9-3 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* And the Chicago Cougars beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

And in English soccer, Arsenal F.C. played York City to a 1-1 draw, at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London, in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. Three days later, they played a replay at Bootham Crescent in York, North Yorkshire, and Arsenal won, 3-1, on a hat trick by Brian Kidd.